The duality of dairy
This week’s report from the European Dairy Association gives the industry an overview of where we stand here in Europe. Last year was a year of two halves, from terrible to the profitable, while 2014 so far seems to be a strong one for dairy. Interesting to me in particular was the section on trade and economics for places such as Singapore, Ukraine and Canada. Agreements between the EU and Canada, for example, provide an entry for EU PDOs into the North American market. Where once Canada could have ignored the PDO system in its cheese labelling, around 40 other types of cheeses, will now have to be labelled ‘type’ or ‘style’ Exceptions have been made for current producers of products such as Munster, Asiago, Feta, Fontina and Gorgonzola. It is a defence of the system that will reward the artisanal producer, hopefully. It is also perhaps a sign that the long-insular Canadian dairy market is opening up. For further information, please visit www.euromilk.org
